Reactors and Radiation
by Drappersky
Summary: In which Tony Stark and Bruce Banner meet in their 20's at a science summit instead of through SHIELD. They hit it off help each other out and end up having a one night stand. Science Bros
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This is a songfic prompt to Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" made for Kweandee. I may add one more chapter if the mood strikes. Thanks for reading :) comments welcome.**

His torture was utter and complete as Tony checked his phone for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. Curse Obadiah's bald head, how did Tony let the man manipulate him like this? The ISC conference was a bust. The very idea that Obadiah had described it as interesting and told Tony that he was sure to find someone to bounce ideas off of was almost comical. Not only because everyone in the room was old enough to be his father, but leading innovation his ass, the lectures he was being forced to subject himself to were repetitive and uninspired at best. Tony had learned everything of importance about the weapons market in my first year as the CEO of Stark Enterprises and could pull more innovative thoughts out of a chop shop's reject pile. Yet the speaker continued to ramble on with his mind-numbing speech.

Well screw this, Obadiah was a liar. He was not going to sit through three days of this crap. Tony was out of there.

Bruce had never been big on crowds, but this Science Summit was his best chance at finding out how to get his research funded and maybe snag a job in the process.

The conference was supposedly put together for the best and brightest scientists and innovators. This should have been an amazing opportunity for him, but the judgmental gazes of the privileged were burning a hole through the back of his second-hand blazer. Bruce looked and felt extremely out of place. He was the youngest in attendance, by far and he was the only less then perfectly dressed person, in a room full of suits.

The pressure was altogether too much; the lectures were out-of-date anyway and staying was just not worth the censure. Head down, Bruce hightailed it to the nearest exit, shoving the door open with a hard thump.

Tony knew Obi would rip him a new one for leaving, but the second he escaped that hellhole, he had his phone out calling his driver. Nothing could be as bad as facing even another fifteen minutes of feeling like he was bleeding through his ears. Absently Tony registered movement in his peripheral vision and then pain radiated through the back of his skull.

"Owww, fuck! What in the hell?" Tony swore, clutching his head.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

In his haste to get away from the scathing stares in the auditorium, Bruce hadn't been paying attention and hit someone in the head with the door. Great job Bruce, he berated himself, you just assaulted someone. You are so getting thrown out.

He apologized immediately to the man he had beaned, thinking he must be one of the older gentlemen attending the lecture. But as he stayed to offer his help, Bruce found himself staring into the watering brown eyes of a handsome twenty year old. Oh wow…

Tony eyed up the person that had opened the door into his head. The guy didn't look like he belonged here, but he must, since he just came out of that horrible lecture. No one in their right mind would crash that party. His clothes were mismatched and old, while unruly curls made him look impossibly young. Rubbing the back of his head, Tony dismissed the guy's apology.

"That's okay, it doesn't hurt that bad, you surprised me more than anything." Smiling he stood up to his full height and held out his hand. It was good to know someone younger than forty was attending this conference. "I'm Tony. Are you trying to ditch the weekend of old men and mind-numbing entertainment, too?"

Smiling tentatively at Tony's joke, he shook the offered hand. "Yeah, I couldn't stand it in there. My name's Bruce." Tony was very charismatic; it was disconcerting, but at least Bruce wasn't the only one who was disappointed.

"Bruce, huh," Tony said, looking him up and down. He wasn't a bad-looking guy, if you could get past what he was wearing. "You seem a little young to be a professor and you're definitely not dressed right to be an heir to a multinational corporation, like yours truly. What brings you here?"

Bruce blushed a little under the scrutiny and tried to straighten his blazer. "I'm looking to get in on the ground floor of a company. I want to develop my research on gamma rays and cell growth. I just finished my doctorate in nuclear physics."

"A man after my own heart," Tony flirted, "My first Ph.D. was in physics. I just finished my second in electrical engineering this year but I've been working in R &amp; D since I was in high school."

Bruce looked around nervously. How important was Tony that he'd been inventing things since his teens? He couldn't be more than twenty-three. "Wow" Bruce fidgeted, "that must be nice."

Tony noticed that Bruce was looking a little uncomfortable, but he was the most interesting thing about this conference. Maybe it would be worth Tony hang around a while longer, if Bruce was willing to have a discussion with him

"Want to get a drink?"

* * *

Bruce found it odd that someone like Tony wanted to spend time with him, but they really hit it off. A drink at a coffee shop turned into dinner back at the hotel, which then turned into staying up late into the night, talking science.

Bruce had settled into a comfy chair next to Tony's bed, blazer discarded, tie gone and legs splayed, listening to Tony complain about running a company.

"Can you believe that? I mean, what am _I_ supposed to do about hippy protesters? We are a weapons' design and manufacturing company. We protect their sorry asses and they think we are destroying the world. Now everyone's looking at me, saying we need to do something about this." He shot Bruce a long-suffering glance and flopped onto the bed, unbuttoning his dress shirt. Bruce hummed in the back of his throat, thinking.

"Well, maybe if you made something to give back to society. Made the world a better place, they would lay off." Bruce conjectured "I understand your company's aim, but if the protesters are that bad it might not hurt to play into their hands." Furrowing his brow, Tony looked a little annoyed at Bruce's suggestion. "Hear me out, Tony. All of your factories run on finite natural resources, polluting the earth, making the weapons they hate."

"Yeah, so?" Tony huffed, rubbing his eyes.

"Say, you invent a new clean energy, something that's self-sustaining, that can power all your factories. Bam! Not only do you get the hippies off your back, by being environmentally conscientious, you would also have the start of a monopoly on clean energy. No one is even looking into self-sustaining energy right now. It would be a great move on both sides." Bruce leaned forward, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, collar open.

"You know, that's a really good idea" Tony said, toeing off his shoes, "and I bet I could even get the board members to approve it." Still exasperated, he ran his hand through his hair, standing it up on end "but, like you said, no one is working on that kind of thing right now. Where would we even start?" Tony glanced over at Bruce. The floor-to-ceiling windows let in the city lights, highlighting his soft smile.

"I would start with palladium. You use it in your missiles already. It has more uses than to just blow things up." He was right, of course, but Tony had never thought to consider palladium's uses as a power core. Plans started forming for a viable prototype to show the board.

"God, Bruce, you're a genius" he stated, smiling at Bruce like a fool "and coming from me, that's like twice the compliment." Tony hadn't felt this amazing in months. Talking to Bruce was better than drinking, better than fast cars. Bruce's sincere eyes and wild hair were an entirely welcome change. A thought crossed his mind as his sat up in bed, sliding to the edge to sit across from Bruce, he asked "How are you not snapped up by some great company by now?"

Bruce sighed, "Connections, I suppose a nobody like me needs them. Any company that knows its stuff is not going to take a chance on a kid with no real life experience. It doesn't matter how smart I am. Especially because of how obscure working with gamma radiation for medical procedures is" he seemed resigned, but there was a fire and conviction as he finished, "but I know that is what I want to do."

Tony considered Bruce, "I think I could help you out there. There's this guy, General Ross, he's in charge of the special research department of the military. My company collabs with them all the time. I bet he could get you in on this new project, it's a Super Soldier thing. They're looking into cell repair and improvements to make soldiers stronger and heal faster. They would absolutely trip over themselves to get someone with your problem-solving skills on the team."

"Really? That would be a great place to start. Is he here for the conference?" Bruce asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure, but if he isn't here himself, there is defiantly a representative from the army. They could point you in the right direction."

"Thanks, I had no idea where to start." Bruce laughed, collapsed back into the chair and closed his eyes. "I guess we solved each other's problems."

It was weird to think they had only met a few hours ago. Tony felt like they'd been friends for years. It was amazing how different they were and yet somehow they complemented each other, like electricity and magnetism. True, Bruce was little rough around the edges, not someone Tony would normally spend time with, but his mind was absolutely fabulous.

That was when Tony realized, he wanted to keep him.

The lights in the room were dimmed, making everything feel close and warm. Bruce's head was propped up on the chair's backrest, exposing a line of skin that started at the v of his unbuttoned shirt and led up to his neck, jawline and slightly parted lips. One rebellious curl fell directly in the middle of his forehead, as the rest of his bangs swept to the side. A hot need coursed through his veins as he leaned in close enough to touch.

Yes, Bruce should stay.

Tony knew it was an infatuation, brought on by the adrenaline rush of inventing new technology, but all the better reason to ask now.

"Hey, Bruce" he called, nudging the younger man's leg with his knee.

"Yeah" Bruce replied while smiling sleepily, body open and pliant.

"You want to stay the night?" Bruce lifted his head.

"What? No, don't worry about it. My room is … well not close, but in the same building. I think I can make it there."

Tony reached out and slowly slid his hand up Bruce's thigh. "I think you should stay."

His other hand brushed along Bruce's cheek. Finding its way to the back of his neck, Tony's fingers locked in the short curls. Bruce tensed, but didn't pull away or try to stop it. He watched Tony move, confusion and a little worry playing across his face. Their eyes connected as Tony invaded his personal space, placed his knee between Bruce's open legs and bent down. Lips met and lingered, Tony's kiss mellow and questioning.

"Oh" Bruce gasped as Tony's intentions finally clicked. That was not how Bruce had planned to spend his weekend, but at the same time, why not? He didn't want to leave and believe it or not, this wasn't the first time that science talk had led to more.

Pulling Tony down into a more heated kiss Bruce accepted warm, eager lips and hot demanding advances.

Shirts hit the floor as they dragged each other back onto the bed. Bruce could tell that Tony was considerably more experienced than him. Where Bruce fumbled, Tony took command unbuckling, unzipping and never stopped landing enticing kisses all over his body.

"I'm not very good at this." Bruce muttered leaning over Tony as he fumbled one handed with his belt.

"That's all right" Tony smirked and then lay back, taking in Bruce's flushed body.

"I'm good enough for both of us." He whispered, pulling Bruce down on top of him and rolling his hips in the most distracting way. Bruce moaned, hands latching onto Tony's hipbones as his head dropped into the space between Tony's shoulder and neck.

"I'm not sure that's comforting." He laughed, breathing hard. Tony stilled, arms wrapped securely around Bruce. Their bodies pressed against each other, head to toe.

"Just promise you'll stay." he said. Bruce pulled back, looking into unusually vulnerable eyes.

"Of course I will," Bruce replied, kissing him softly on the forehead before sliding his hand into Tony's. They fell deeper into each other as the night became a wash of tangled bodies and heated moans.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun crept in through the bedroom window warm and mellow, as it slid over Tony's relaxed face. Brown eyes blinked open and then scrunched closed again as the early morning sun intensified. Waking up reluctantly, Tony rolled over with the soft rustle and smooth slip of sheets. Last night had been great and no, he wasn't just talking about the sex. Even now, naked in his bed and looking very well fucked, Bruce's steady breathing was extremely grounding.

This had been a one night stand, fun and intense, but it couldn't be anything more. Tony had rules about sex with strangers and he needed to leave now, before Bruce woke up. But as he pulled himself out of bed, leaving Bruce rumbled and warm, he almost wished he could stay.

What the hell was up with that?

Bruce sat up in bed and yawned, blinking sleepily. The room was quiet and Tony was gone. Oh well, he thought, running a hand through his disheveled hair, having random, science-induced sex with Tony had been an interesting experience, even if it may not have been his best move. He got up and started picking up his clothes that lay strewn across the floor. Slipping on his shirt, he noticed something sticking out of the pocket. It was a note with a phone number scrawled across it.

_Call me if you ever want to do more science. Tony Stark. A smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he shook his head. _Leaving the room, Bruce stuffed the note in his pants pocket. Tony sure was….something else.

* * *

Russia had seemed so promising. You would expect having something like Chernobyl happen inside its borders the government would have put more resources into radiation poisoning research, but no, he had hit another dead end. The National Research University in Moscow had nothing even close to what he needed to negate the gamma radiation in his blood.

God, everything was so frustrating and even now he could feel the Hulk growling as it rattled around in his head. Breathe, Bruce, you've got to calm down. This is not the time for another incident. Sure, this was your best lead, but it's not the only one, don't give up. Yes, that's right, I just keep moving for now, he thought. Flipping up his collar the cold wind tried to work its way through his scarf as Bruce's eyes scanned the crowed.

That's when he noticed the uniforms, both Russian and American. He moved with the flow of traffic, not too fast, not too slow there were military personnel around every corner. The army was trying to pin him down again. For fuck sake, he was in Russia in the middle of the city, how did General Ross know? His best bet now was to try and stay inconspicuous and out of sight. They didn't seem to have a strike team placed, which meant they hadn't picked him out of the crowd yet. Rounding a corner he caught sight of a general's uniform and even though he could tell it was not Ross he pulled his hat down and picked up the pace. He need to get out of here and find a place to lie low, he could not get captured again.

Tony's company manufactured weapons. It only made sense that the military was his best customer, but he never particularly liked spending time with them. Traveling to Moscow was a good business deal, but no matter how good for the company these trips were, they were never any fun.

As soon as the meeting let out Tony was cutting through the crowd straight to his waiting car. There was no way he was getting roped into spending dinner with any of them again. Sending off a quick text to Pepper, he stopped at the curb to check the local restaurant reviews.

Out of nowhere someone ran, smack, into his side so hard he almost lost his phone. A hat went flying into traffic as the person ricocheted off of him, almost falling into the road. Luckily Tony was able to grab the guy quick enough to pull him back before he got sideswiped by a delivery van. Regaining his footing the man pulled away, took a step away from him.

"You okay?" Tony asked as he evaluating the guy's mismatched appearance. A shrill beeping was coming from the guys wrist watch.

"Yeah," he said taking deep steadying breaths. "I'm sorry I ran into you." As the man's watch stopped beeping brown eyes flicked up to meet his gaze and it was like deja vu.

"Bruce?" Tony gasped.

* * *

Tony?! What in the world was he doing in Russia? He still looked very nice in his suit with an overly complicated phone, but he'd grown a beard and wore a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses, even though it was getting dark.

"I almost didn't recognize you." he said removing the sunglasses.

If Tony thought the first outfit Bruce had been wearing was bad. The pants he had on right now were an absolute travesty. Bruce's fly-away curls and brown eyes were still exactly like Tony remembered them, even if he would never pass for a starry-eyed nineteen year old. Bruce looked weary and worn thin around the edges, like he'd been working without sleep or camping in the wild. Tony really hoped the backpack slung over a shoulder was not filled with dirty clothes and canned food.

"So, how is it you ended up in Moscow?" Tony asked, distracting himself from the clothes.

"I'm doing field work and traveling a lot nowadays." Bruce hedged. How had Tony instantly recognized him? Bruce knew he looked different, years on the run will do that to a person. He and Tony had spent one night together almost ten years ago.

"Field work looks like it's not all it's cracked up to be." Tony smiled.

"I'm not staying long." Bruce said, looking away. "In fact, I should get going."

Tony was not sure, but Bruce may be trying to blown him off. Well tough luck for Bruce, because Tony Stark was not gotten rid of that easily.

"Got somewhere you need to be?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Bruce answered, fidgeting.

"Then stay and have dinner with me. We can get out of here." he stated, gesturing at his car. "I'm done with work and staying for the night, before going back to Malibu. Let's go for dinner. I'm starving and it looks like you could do with a good meal."

Tony had no clue how true that was, but Bruce really shouldn't. Just then, he noticed a military uniform eyeing them up and that decided it for him; he needed to get way.

"Okay, let's go." Tony grinned and pulled the car door open.

* * *

"Tony, this place is way too expensive."

"Don't worry about it. My treat." Tony said, nudging Bruce forward "I hear their borscht is to die for."

"Really, borscht?" he asked, looking at Tony. He was joking right?

Walking in like he owned the place, Tony ordered drinks for both of them and downed his in short order. Bruce felt extremely out of place as he politely refused his tumbler. He didn't drink anymore, something about having to constantly focus on keeping a rage monster inside of you makes drinking less enjoyable. This didn't seem to faze Tony as he picked up where they had left off ten years ago. For some reason, talking science with Tony was almost too easy, it engaged his mind and worry just slipped away.

Tony was man enough to admit that he was trying to impress Bruce and bringing up the arc reactor was a great way of starting. Of course, Bruce came up with the idea of using palladium and clean energy, but Tony actually made it functional. It was only right to let Bruce know how well it worked. Even if it wasn't particularly cost-effective, the protesters hadn't had a leg to stand on after Tony started it up.

"It sounds amazing, wish I could see it." Bruce said, as Tony described how much energy it created.

"Well, it's on the other side of the world right now, but…" Tony pulled out his Stark Phone. "I can get the specs for you to look at." he said as the blueprints flashed up on the small screen. Bruce fished his glasses out of his pocket to see the details.

"Fascinating," he stated while studying the layout. "But how did you compensate for the lack of cooling coils and turbines?"

"Well, that's the thing Bruce." Tony smirked "It's doesn't use hot-fusion or thermal-fission." Bruce looked confused.

"Then what does it use? It can't be cold-fusion."

"The palladium's electron capture creates its own self-perpetuating electricity. All you need to do is give it the initial jump start."

"No way!" Bruce smiled, overwhelmed.

"Yeah, pretty cool, I know."

"How is this not cost-effective?"

"Well, I mean it's fine for me and powering factories, but it needs its own building and it has about a 65 foot diameter. It certainly did make the statement we needed, when it started up."

"It really is amazing, but if you altered this," Bruce said as he made changes to the blueprint on the phone's touchscreen. "it would be 125 times smaller and portable." He handed the phone back to Tony, who looked over the math as he spun the diagram around to examine the changes.

"God, Bruce how did you do that? I swear you should just drop whatever it is that has you wearing elastic-waisted pants and fix all my problems." Bruce laughed and it had been forever since that happened. Talking and collaborating with someone intelligent was extremely satisfying.

"Unless of course, you're on the verge of bettering all mankind with what you're doing now and then I can just shut up. Did you ever get to do that research on radiation's healing capabilities? That was the last thing you were into, right?" Well, that popped Bruce's bubble. He couldn't believe he let himself think anything could be normal.

"Oh yeah it was. Didn't exactly go the way I wanted it too, but I'm working on it." Bruce deflected. "Listen, this was fun, but I better get going."

"What, right now? Where are you staying? Somewhere here in Moscow?"

"Like I said, I'm not really staying at all. Think I'll get out of here after dinner."

"It's way too late to get anywhere." Tony said. He couldn't let him go just yet. "Come back with me; there's plenty of space in my room." Tony could see Bruce was still not convinced as he rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.

"You look beat." Tony stated. "I'll let you use the shower, it's so relaxing, absolutely to die for. You can even go first as my guest, I insist." Tony wheedled, seeing a spark of interest. "After that, if you want to leave the country in the middle of the night like a fugitive, you have my blessing." Bruce looked uncomfortable at his joke, but agreed to tag along.

* * *

The second Bruce was ensconced in the bathroom, Tony walked over to the bar to get another drink. It had been a lot harder to convince Bruce to come with him than he would have thought. When they were talking science it was so easy to be with him that it felt like breathing, but then he would joke around and Bruce would tense up again. Tony didn't remember Bruce being like that the last time.

The door to the bathroom opened not ten minutes later, revealing Bruce looking fresh and clean. His hair was wet, a white towel around his hips and Tony's eyes lingered appreciatively, as water dripped down Bruce's chest.

"Wow, I didn't think it was possible to shower that fast" he said, leaning against the bar, drink still in hand. "Mind if I take a little longer?"

"I'm just not used to having the time." Bruce smiled. On his way to the bathroom, Tony put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, big guy, just relax while I freshen up, there's no rush here."

When Tony said no rush he meant it. Forty five minutes later and Bruce was getting antsy, there was nothing to do. Tony's bed looked so comfortable and maybe he could close his eyes for a second…. No, that was not a good idea at all. He needed something to do until Tony got out of the shower. Work, if he had downtime, it should be used productively. That last equation was still giving him trouble. He whipped out his notebook and sat down on the couch. Time to focus.

Tony watched Bruce sleep as he dried his hair off. He appeared to have passed out sitting up on the couch, glasses perched precariously on his nose. Tony had hoped that Bruce would stay the night but it looked like at any second he could wake up and walk right out into the night. He was a lot skinnier than Tony remembered, all lean muscle and sharp edges now, with just his curls lending a softness to his features. As least in sleep Bruce looked less guarded more at ease.

God, what was he doing, creeping on Bruce? He should just go to sleep, no more alcohol for him tonight. That's when he noticed the open notebook lying next to Bruce. It was dog-eared and well-used, like he figured most of Bruce's possessions were, but what caught Tony's eye was the work. The pages were covered front and back in equations, charts and calculations. Problem was he could only read a page of the work without touching it. He glanced at Bruce, still sound asleep. He would just look at enough of it to see how the math turned out, he thought, picking it up.

Five pages in and Tony realized he might have gotten carried away. The work Bruce was doing reminded him of a project he had been asked to make tech for, but much more detailed. Why did Bruce know so much about it? No, it wasn't his place to ask and he shouldn't have been looking to begin with.

Setting the notebook down on the side table, Tony leaned over Bruce to remove his glasses before they fell off in his sleep. He eased them off smoothly, but the movement must have bothered Bruce because out of nowhere his arm almost hit Tony in the face. Quick reflexes saved him from a black eye or bloody nose, but Bruce was no longer peacefully sleeping. As Tony held his wrist in a firm grip away from his face, Bruce began to shake.

* * *

The calm floating darkness was suddenly shattered. Ross was there right above him smiling, vindictively satisfied as he gestured in the testing devices. How did they find him? Restraints came out of nowhere, holding Bruce down, wrapping around his body so tightly he couldn't move. Bruce tried to free himself, and struggled to control his breathing. Bright lights swung into his line of sight, blinding him. No! No! This couldn't be happening again, he had escaped! The torture machines loomed closer and Bruce began to shake uncontrollably. The Hulk growled menacingly in his head, fighting to break free, but he couldn't let that happen, that's just what they wanted. A high-pitched whine filled the room as everything closed in around him.

* * *

Bruce woke up as he fell off the couch onto floor. Breathing hard, he tried to remember where he was, the nightmare still clawing at him. He backed up until he hit a wall, curling in on himself as the shrill beeping of his heart monitor put him even more on edge.

"Bruce, what's wrong?" Tony was on the couch, looking shocked and disheveled. That's right, he was in Tony's hotel suite, safe. It was just a dream. "You okay?"

Tony watched, disturbed as acid green eyes flashed and Bruce shuddered against the wall, heaving on the edge of hyperventilation.

"Just give me a second." he whispered, propping his head against his knees. Bruce forced himself to slow his breathing and calm down, fists clenching and unclenching. Get a hold of yourself, he internally berated himself, Tony is right there.

"Bruce?" Tony questioned. Tony sat on the end of the couch closest to him, looking down as the beeping finally stopped.

Well, after a display like that Bruce couldn't just explain it away as a nightmare. Even though he knew Tony would never look at him the same way again, Bruce told him all about the research, the accident and about the Hulk, about everything.

"General Ross has been hunting me for a few years now. He wanted to use me as a weapon, but the Hulk is dangerous and indiscriminate, he doesn't care who gets in the way. That's the real reason I'm here in Russia; I've been looking for a cure, but I'm not having any luck. I try really hard to stay level and safe, but things keep catching me by surprise."

Horror slowly dawned as Bruce talked. "And then big, green and angry comes out." Tony stated.

"I'm sorry, I should never have gotten you involved." Tony slowly slid off the couch next to Bruce, collapsing against the wall, head back, legs spread in front of him.

"Well, shit."

* * *

Tony knew about the Hulk. For fuck sake, he probably knew more about the Hulk than he did about Bruce. He had created weapons to use against it. He had made tech for experiments… Oh God! Now the size-changing restraints made sense, but he never knew Bruce and the Hulk were the same person. To think of any of that stuff being used on Bruce… he just couldn't, it made him want to gag.

How had the army kept him this far out of the loop? Tony had thought he was very much in charge. Everything went through him before it was approved. He decided what to make and who to help. But here he was, finding out he was hurting people that he thought he was protecting. The second he got back to Malibu he was hacking their entire computer system. A massive recall was in order. Anything even halfway Hulk-related was going to be eradicated. He would tear the junk apart with his bare hands if he had to. He should have known he could never trust the military.

Tony had pushed Bruce into Ross' way all those years ago and now a sweet guy with the most innovative ideas on clean energy he had ever met had PTSD, because of him. He was never making anything for that bastard Ross again!

"I should go." Bruce said, shifting to get up. Tony grabbed his hand and held him in place.

"No, stay as long as you want" he stated, determination in his eyes. "I'm not letting them near you."

Tony was way too accepting and a little careless to boot. Bruce just told him that he could go rage monster at the slightest provocation and he was trying to protect him? Keep him safe? It seemed awful risky, but then Bruce had never been much of a gambler.

"I appreciate that Tony, but I can't go back to sleep here, it's too dangerous."

"Fine, we'll just sit up against the wall and talk, if that makes you more comfortable." Tony said.

Tony grabbed a blanket off the bed, wrapping it around them. Was it odd that he was totally up for this? The floor was hard and he was going to be sore tomorrow, but Tony had wanted Bruce to spend the night and after what he had unintentionally done, maybe he deserved a little pain.

He let Tony think he is staying. They talked about everything from computer coding to antihydrogen until Tony nodded off on his shoulder. If Bruce hadn't been harboring a monster inside himself, he could absolutely see them being friends. They talked science together without a hitch and they could help each other out of sticky spots, but things the way they were and Tony working with the army. There was no way it could work. He had to keep moving, keep looking for a cure.

When he was sure Tony was asleep, Bruce slowly moved, slipping out from under him. Grabbing a pillow, Bruce placed it under Tony's head and rearranged the blanket. Gathering up his backpack, he ripped out a page in his notebook, folded it in half and left it on the side table.

As the door clicked closed, a draft puffed over the page, revealing a note written over the top of several solved mathematic equations. _Thanks for the help. It's always exciting bumping into you. Bruce Banner._


	3. Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Bruce absent-mindedly rubbed the cut on his finger. It had been a crazy day, making a slip like that. In the middle of the factory no less, but he didn't see how he could lay much lower. It had been 158 days since he had had an incident and Brazil was nice; his Portuguese was getting a lot better.

He walked past the local tavern, as he did every night on his way back from work. It was really hopping. Loud singing flowed out of the open doors and he could picked out a few words he recognized. At least other people were having a good day. Suddenly there was a shout over the top of the ruckus calling for another round and it was in English.

Preservation instinct kicked in instantly as Bruce's back hit the nearest wall, his eyes scanning the area for Ross' men. But there was nothing weird or out of the ordinary going on, except for the increasingly loud noise issuing from the bar. Carefully Bruce maneuvered himself so he could look in through the open door, ready to run at the first sign of camo. Through the crowd a man in a black faded t-shirt and grease-smeared jeans laughed and took a bow as the whole bar cheered. For crying out loud, was that Tony?

Well this was certainly a different, but no less surprising way of stumbling upon Tony Stark. More alcohol was passed around the room as Tony swayed and downed another tumbler of brandy. Bruce knew he should leave; there were way too many people around and even with a tan he was rather proud of, he already stood out more than he would like. The second he'd made the decision to walk away, Tony turned around and his slightly glazed brown eyes flashed in recognition.

"Bruce!" Tony yelled, waving enthusiastically, "Found you!" Nudging the guy closest to him, he said "Told you I would." Lurching through the throng, he grabbed Bruce by the arm, dragging him into the crowd. Tony was ecstatic, making large sweeping gestures to punctuate his words, but not being very articulate as he yattered into Bruce's ear. He was yelling something about "Jarvis is the best," and "anything you want, name it, I'll get it for you."

Bruce was more than a little reluctant to be dragged into the tavern as he shuffled his feet, but Tony had glommed onto him and looked as if he had no intention of letting him go.

"Bruce Banner, you are a hard man to pin down." Tony laughed, leading him back to the bar and sitting down practically in Bruce's lap.

"Tony I really don't think this is the best place to talk." Even in the short amount of time it had taken them to find a seat, the people had gotten even more boisterous and clumsy. Tony assessed Bruce, taking in his physique; he was looking good, clean, healthy, much better than last time. He was a warm brown all over and had the look of someone working hard for his money. But he was fidgeting uncomfortably where he sat and trying to make himself as small as possible. The smile slipped from Tony's face as he remembered Bruce's aversion to crowds.

"Sure, sure, I mean I was just passing the time." He stated quietly, subdued for a moment before he plastered his hundred volt smile back on. "So another round and-"

"No, Tony you can stay if you want, but I'm leaving." Bruce said getting up. Tony stumbled a bit as he moved to follow Bruce.

"Come on, don't be upset," Tony whined reaching for Bruce's hand. "Just teasing, I'm going with you." They were halfway to the door, winding their way through the tables, when Tony remembered the case.

"Wait! I need my case. Where is it?" he yelled, whipping around and wildly searching the bar. "It's really very important, Bruce, very important." He stated, squatting down and tugging Bruce after him into a sea of people's legs.

"Ah, look there it is, under that table!" Tony exclaimed, pointing to an object near Bruce. "Bruce, could you?" Bruce grabbed the red and gold case, lifting it up, surprised by the weight. "Jease, can't let that out of my sight." Tony mumbled, running a hand along the metal edge, but not taking it himself.

Bruce heaved a sigh as they finally escaped the crowd and started walking back to his crappy apartment. Tony was still attracting way too much attention by clinging to him, being overly loud and ostentatious, but now there was no one to care but Bruce. Tony was very chatty as he stumbled along beside him, but none of what he said made much sense until he went quiet.

"Would you let me pet your hair?" Bruce looked over at him incredulously and without waiting for an answer Tony draped himself over Bruce's shoulders and stuck both of his hands in Bruce's hair, messing with it.

"Tony please" Bruce whispered after they make it up the stairs, juggling the case, trying to get the apartment key out of his pocket and Tony's hands out of his hair.

The door finally swung open. Bruce ushered his guest inside, disentangled himself and set Tony down on the bed. He locked the door behind them, setting the case to one side as he patted down his ruffled hair and turned to Tony, ready for a good explanation.

"Now, what's this all about?"

Tony was tipped over, face down on Bruce's bed, snoring into his pillow. He walked over, "Tony?" he questioned, shaking him gently. There was no response other than a small cough that sent a wave of alcohol fumes in his direction.

On the other occasions he'd spent time with the inventor, Tony had been perfectly coiffed in a three piece suit. He'd been high energy, impressive and a little odd, but always very put together. This close up it was obvious to Bruce that Tony was not taking care of himself. He looked like crap; bags under his eyes, grease everywhere, drunk as a skunk, but then again how well did he really know Tony? All they talked about was science and although that was always mind-bending Bruce had no idea what Tony's life was really like.

He sighed and decided to let him to sleep it off. Whatever he had wanted to talk about must have been important for Tony to go to the trouble of finding him. He was exasperated, but Tony showed no sign of waking up anytime soon.

Bruce busied himself going over the data of his last failed attempt at curing his "problem". The flower had been another dead end. The only option left was giving into Mr. Blue's request and sending him some blood. Bruce greatly disliked the idea, but what else was there to do?

He took a deep resigned breath through his nose and noticed a distinct burning smell, like overheated metal and heat corrosion. Had he left something on when he went to work? What was wrong with him today? He checked all his equipment, but everything was off and the smell seemed to be coming from his bed and Tony.

Bruce shook Tony again trying to wake him up, but got nothing but an eye lid flutter and an indignant grunt.

"Tony wake up, it smells like you're burning." This seemed to catch Tony's attention. He rolled over groaning, rubbing his hands over his face.

"What?" he asked, coughing again.

"There's a burning smell," which had gotten thicker the second Tony rolled over. "I know this sounds crazy, but I think it's coming from you." Bruce stated, concerned.

"Shit" Tony swore, cursing his luck. Maybe he shouldn't have used the suit to get here. "The core needs changing." He lifted his shirt up, glowing blue light spilling from his chest. The suit was really frying the palladium at an alarming rate. "I need a replacement core," he said, twisting the outer casing of the device lodged in his sternum to extract the spent disk. "That case you brought along has one in it. Can you just …?" he gestured at it, making grabby hands as the inner part of the reactor lifted out of his chest.

Bruce looked down at him with a combination of fascination and horror, but quickly grabbed the case and set it next to Tony on the bed. The thumb print scan confirmed Tony's access and he efficiently replaced the burnt out core with a new one. Jarvis' clipped voice came from the case, informing the room that Tony's blood toxicity levels were at 23%.

Bruce was left staring in shock at a device he was sure had not been there the last time they met. In his hand was a piece of smoking metal that had come out of the middle of Tony's chest.

His mind finally kicked in as he recognized the design. This was the same tec he helped invent and then shrink. This was the clean energy device they had come up with all those years ago. There was a mini arc reactor in Tony's chest.

That couldn't possibly be right. With a heavy metal like the palladium he had suggested, especially being used as the catalyst to produce the energy this would mean… the coughing, fatigue, disorientation and yes if he looked for it, there was a weird dark rash radiating out from the casing, crawling its way towards Tony's neck.

Tony had heavy metal chemical poisoning.

"What have you been doing?" Bruce whispered. Tony's arm was thrown over his eyes, the blue light and spreading rash on clear display as he laughed humorlessly.

"Well, you know the science conference we met at? My "mentor" Obadiah, who made me go, tried very hard to kill me three years ago. Long story short, I have shrapnel working its way towards my heart and this," he said, tapping on the device in his chest, "is an electromagnet powered by a mini arc reactor that keeps me alive." He gestured at the case on the bed. "That is my Iron Man suit. I'm sure you've heard of it. I came up with it after Obi's first failed assassination attempt and the arc reactor powers all the many variations I've made since then."

"But this can't be okay Tony." Bruce held out the core with its bubbly, burnt exterior still warm in his hand.

"Yeah, about that," Tony said, eyeing the core. "I was wondering if you could help me out with that little issue."

Bruce stood over Tony, looking down at him. His eyes flicked back and forth between the core and the man sprawled on his bed. "Tony…I….," he faltered, shaking his head in denial. Tony reached up and plucked the used palladium from Bruce's fingers, setting it aside.

"I feel like I'm on my deathbed, come down here." Tony teased softly and Bruce must have still been in shock, because he followed Tony's hand down without resistance, until they were lying side by side.

"I know it was a long shot, finding you and asking for help, but we fix each other's problems, right?" He said with a small smile. Bruce seemed absorbed by the blue light in front of him, a frown on his face. "Fix it for me one more time." Tony said, squeezing Bruce's hand. "I still have a month, maybe two."

Tony was dying. Dying! It kept repeating in Bruce's head. There was a freaking reactor imbedded in the man's chest and it was slowly eating away at him from the inside.

"Even if I could, I don't have the equipment to fix this." Bruce said, looking up at Tony, his hand hovering over the center of the inventor's chest, waiting for permission. "The arc reactor was never meant to be inside someone's body." Tony gave him a nod and Bruce made contact with the very tips of his fingers, inspecting the device tentatively. "I'm surprised you're only having problems now."

"I have a chlorophyll drink that Jarvis pumps me full of, to slow it down." Tony watched Bruce's expression rather than his hands as they explored the exposed elements. "You don't have to be that gentle; it's settled in there pretty good, pressure doesn't hurt." Bruce worried as he inspected the arc reactor and the area around it. Pressure may not hurt, but he knew the symptoms of palladium poisoning and Tony must be feeling pretty shitty right now.

He wanted to help Tony, of course he did, but how was he supposed to help fix this when all of his ideas ended in disaster? The radiation serum he was so sure of turned him into the Hulk, all his failed attempts at control and a cure only proved he was horrible at fixing his mistakes. Now even the arc reactor made to produce clean, safe energy was slowly killing Tony. Bruce ripped his eyes away from his most recent failure, focusing on the person in front of him.

"There's a symptom reducer I know of, but it's not going to change the progression of the poisoning. It can give you a couple of clear, pain-free days, that's it." Tony did not look as discouraged by this as Bruce felt.

"Come back to Malibu with me. With the labs I have there we can put our heads together and try to sort all this out." Tony looked horribly optimistic even though Bruce could promise him nothing.

"You have too much faith in my abilities." Bruce murmured.

"Well, Jarvis is there too." Tony smiled, slipping into serious science mode. "We need to find something different to run the reactor that's not poisonous. I've already looked and there isn't any known element that would work."

"So you need an energy source that's clean, cool, and safe. You've checked every known element. What are you expecting me to do? Make you a new element?" It sounded impossible, but then again this wasn't the first time he had worked on a project everyone had deemed impractical. Flipping onto his back, Bruce ran a hand through his hair, setting it all on end. "Tony, you know I've got my own problems. I'm still not safe to be around anyone. I need the original research data, which is only accessible through Culver University. It's all too crazy, too dangerous, too much." Tony propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at Bruce.

"I know this is a lot to take in and things are not going to be easy if you agree, but you've got the best hacker in the world here and I'm sure we can help each other out."

* * *

Pepper had just left, happily overwhelmed, after Tony's surprise. He had officially named her the new CEO of Stark Enterprises. It must have come out-of-the-blue for her, even though Tony had been talking to Bruce about it for weeks.

"You really should tell her the reason why." Bruce said. He had been standing in the back of the lab, pretending to work as he listened in on their conversation. Bruce had an uncanny ability to fade into the background in most situations, even when he was the only other person in the room.

"I know that; I'm waiting for the right moment." Tony huffed, grabbing his chlorophyll drink and chugging half of it.

"You've got less than a month. We are not any closer to figuring this out than when we started." The whole experience had been one roadblock after another. They were both at their wit's end and trying to hide how upset they were about that.

"You know, that's really not what I need to hear right now." He said, fiddling with a piece of tec. "Not like you're facing up to your girl either. She's the only lead we have on the research you need." Tony had hacked into the college computer system, but it had not turned up the research data Bruce needed.

There was nothing left that even referenced the work Bruce and Betty had put so much time and pain into. It was totally gone. The only person who might still have the data was Betty herself and Bruce hadn't seen her since his first transformation had ended with her in the hospital. He knew he was stalling, but he couldn't bring himself to see her reaction to what he had become or to endanger her again. So he was a little overly defensive when Tony brought it up.

"That's totally different, Tony. I'm not dying." He said, flinching as he heard what came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, that must be nice." Tony groused, rubbing his neck. The rash could now be seen above his collar.

"Sir, you need to replace the cor-"

"Mute." Tony cut off Jarvis' reminder with an agitated gesture.

"I don't know why you won't let me hook the car battery up for a while. It can power the electromagnet just fine and it wouldn't poison you."

"I'm never going back Bruce! I just can't. The reactor is part of me, I can't get rid of it. You don't understand." Bruce looked down at his hands and heard the other guy rumble unhappily in the background.

"No, I do. We just look at it differently." He sighed. They both fell silent as Tony switched the core and left.


End file.
